Muted
by RoseblossomWarrior
Summary: I couldn't understand who I once was. That person, that thing, was something emotionless and therefore lifeless, with a future that was doomed to repeat the past and though I knew I still had to be that thing, that tool, I had become afraid. I had changed. [Rewrite for my old fic "Muffled." RenxOCxHoro. Final pairing undecided.]
1. Prologue: Her and I

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shaman King, I only own my own OCs._

* * *

Prologue: Her and I

**"You're running out of time here," **Nix said as she approached the busy street corner.

While waiting for the light to change, she looked through her bag to make sure she hadn't forgotten the money that her older brother Tai had lent her. Nix had had to remind her to bring it. **"I know," **she replied absently, emotionlessly. She'd never spoken to her spirit partner in anything but a monotone.

**"You'll be younger this time around than you were last time," **Nix commented.

**"I suppose so," **she agreed, and the phoenix spirit said nothing.

The light finally changed, and as it did she noticed Tai standing across the street. He smiled and waved, but she did nothing in return. It had been a while since she'd seen him; he was getting more and more busy lately since he'd become an actor, even if he only played bit parts in those kung-fu movies that had become popular lately. The last time she'd seen him had been a few weeks ago, when he'd taken her along to see the latest Lee Pailong movie at a private screening in Pailong's own house. It had been a huge event, and she'd been stared at by plenty of people because of her lack of emotion.

Despite her muteness and "special needs," Tai always tried to take her places and spend time with her, which puzzled her more than anything, but she didn't particularly care, just like she didn't care about anything or anyone. It was just unusual to her that he was even concerned about her; all of her previous siblings hadn't been.

She started walking across the street, and Tai beamed. As he did so, Nix's ghostly talons suddenly dug into her shoulder, but the girl didn't pay any heed.

Tai's smile vanished.

_"MAYLIN!"_

She stopped at this. There was a screech of tires, and Tai was suddenly there, grabbing Maylin, trying to shove her out of the way.

But the car hit them both.

()()()()()

For thousands of years, she hadn't considered herself much of anything. She was a drifter with a purpose and a place to call home, but she didn't think of herself as an individual. She was a tool, and she'd always been a tool and Nix had always been there to protect her until it was her time to be used. Tools were seen and not heard and she reflected that ideology with her entire being.

But as Maylin died and the soul known as Catori finally migrated toward the Patch after five hundred years, something changed.

_I changed._

()()()()()

The nine months spent floating around inside my new mother were different than they had been the dozens upon dozens of times I had done it before. I used to feel as if I were asleep, and though I did slip in and out of consciousness, everything felt different.

It puzzled me for a long time. Nix came not too long after I became aware, and he told me about how his arrival had exited the Patch people. As per tradition, they held a celebration honoring my mother—whose name was Shima, apparently—and Nix told me all about it.

I listened attentively as he explained about what the Patch was like this time around. The tribe itself was smaller than it had ever been, and it wasn't as prosperous, but it was as lively and devoted as ever. The High Priestess was an old woman named Goldva, who was in charge of not only all of the Patch, but also training the new chosen generation of Patch priests, who all looked pretty promising—to me, at least.

Time passed, and I became more and more excited to be born, so that I could meet Shima and Dakota, my parents, and also Silva and Kalim and Chrom and all the other Patch priests. I was looking forward to living.

I don't know if Nix had purposely been keeping a few things from me while my body grew, but one day, he told me that my father had passed away from pneumonia.

The imagine of a car and screaming Tai filled my tiny head and I wanted to scream but I couldn't, I wanted to cry but I couldn't, so I lamented to Nix and it was then that I realized what was different.

It was me. I was sad because someone died before I even had the chance to meet him.

I had emotions, and it scared me.

()()()()()

I was born at noon on March 13, 1985. To say that my birth was an event would be an understatement. All the fuss annoyed me and I retracted my senses so that I didn't have to accidentally brush against anyone's annoying thoughts.

Time went by pretty slowly. When I was old enough to move around the village by myself, I spent most of my time with the priests. My favorite had to be Silva, since he was so nice and always took the time to slip me something tasty. He was a lot older than me, though, and I found myself wanting to do childish things in my young body, so if there was any free time, I usually spent it with Nichrom and Rutherford. Nichrom could be annoying, but Rutherford was always very sweet and shy. She preferred to spend time by herself, though, and sometimes we went days without talking to each other.

I don't think I went an hour without talking to Nix, though.

But Nix and I never talked about my emotions until I became a teenager.

()()()()()

That night, I lay on the flat roof of our house, staring up at the night sky. I was thinking of all the shamans in the world, which ones would try to become the Shaman King, which one would. Which dream would become a reality? Or had Hao reincarnated again? Surely, if he had, he would be one of the strongest contenders…if not _the _strongest.

When he had been a Patch priest, I hadn't known who he was until his intentions had become clear and he had tried to become Shaman King by force. At the time, I had no bias on anything, and if he had actually managed to use me, I wouldn't have done anything about it. But now, I remembered how he had slaughtered the Seminoas and taken Spirit of Fire, all in the name of his shaman-only kingdom. If Asakura Yohken hadn't stopped him, then no non-shaman would be left, as he considered them all parasites, creatures that ruined the world and brought nothing but despair.

I thought of Tai, and I couldn't agree with how Hao thought. I would incinerate myself—my _existence_— before I agreed.

Nix—the ever-present phoenix, my guardian, the one I relied on most—heard my thoughts, as always. **"You don't have to agree. You only have to aid him."**

** "…I can't, Nix. I don't want to, not ever." **But, every second brought me closer to that time, to the inevitable.

**"But it's your duty."**

** "You don't have to remind me."**

He was silent for a moment. **"You aren't who you once were."**

** "…I can't even understand who that person was,"** I admitted. My eyes stung. **"I don't understand, and it makes me scared."**

** "Well, I'm always here for you."**

I said nothing in response, but I didn't have to.

We sat on that roof every night we could, watching the stars, waiting for the one that would signal the end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end.

**~Muted~**

* * *

_a/n: Hello, everyone! It's Rose, here, and I have to admit that I have another fanfic to work on. For those of you who don't want to read about me reminiscing of old days, feel free to skip the rest of this author note, and just note that right after I upload this prologue I will be uploading the first chapter, and I hope to update this bi-weekly, though I have other responsibilities: school, family, and my other ongoing fic at the moment, for FMA. Thanks._

_"Muffled" was a fic I started writing the summer before I went into high school (around the beginning of August 2010), and I didn't finish writing the entire thing for over a year, and in all, it took me eleven months to post it in its entirety. It got me through freshman year (especially my math classes), and was a huge, huge part of my life. Many people even told me in reviews that they loved it and read it often. "Muffled" was my baby, and Tori was my baby, and Nix was my baby. I loved it, but it wasn't perfect. It was based entirely off the anime (which I love), but much of the dialogue came from the episodes themselves. There were also inconsistencies, things that didn't make sense, lessons that I've since learned aren't always right and/or are wrong altogether, and Tori tended to be more of the bad type of Mary Sue sometimes (I will actually agree with you if you call her a Mary Sue; however, I will not agree with you if you use it in a negative context; I think it's impossible to have an interesting story if the OC doesn't have any Sue tendencies, and I think the bad Sues come from a whole slew of factors). I loved writing "Muffled" so much that I actually cried several times during the story, especially in the later chapters._

_Sometimes during the writing I thought about doing a sequel, but that never happened. I also thought about doing a manga adaptation, and that never happened...until now. But you see, this story should have elements of both the manga and anime. I will do everything I can to make "Muted" as fresh and interesting as possible, while still touching upon the style of "Muffled." It is my hope that in this rewrite, the writing will be better, the characterization will be spot-on, there will be no inconsistencies, and that you will enjoy this story as much as I do, whether you've read "Muffled" before or not. Thank you very much, dear reader, for coming this far and at least giving this story a shot. Without you, there would be no reason to do this._

_Thank you all very, very much, and I hope you enjoy "Muted."_

_-Rose_


	2. One: Tori

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King. I only own my own OCs._

* * *

One: Tori

When the star did finally come, it all began.

The day started normally. Shima tied my hair back into a ponytail with a gold ribbon that Silva had gotten me for my last birthday. My mother loved to do my hair for me, since it was red rather than Patch black. I didn't feel particularly close to Shima, but I let her have her comforts whenever she could. I was treated like a blessing in the village, but I felt like a curse to her, not that she felt the same way…I think. Sometimes, at night, I did hear her crying.

She was a widower and would probably never marry again. Even if she did, I made all of my mothers infertile, so she wouldn't be able to have another child or know the true bond of a mother-child relationship. I would never know it either.

After breakfast, she began her usual day of baking goods for the tribe (everyone went through a rotation during the week so she wouldn't end up being overwhelmed). She didn't have a real job, per se, since her official title was actually to just be my mother, so she filled her time by doing little things for the other Patch members, like cooking and sewing.

I left her and headed out into the village. Lately, it had been getting busier; everyone was making the village more presentable, since part of the Shaman Fight would bring all the participants here. That wouldn't be for months, though.

**"Hi, Nichrom," **I said suddenly.

"Aw, you always know it's me," he said, suddenly appearing from around a corner a little ways ahead. He smiled. "Morning, Cat."

I bristled. **"Don't call me that."**

"But cats are cute."

Nichrom always said stupid things like that, but since the puberty hormones had started kicking in (Great Spirits, I hated puberty more than anything), those kids of comments made me blush a little. Though I would never ever like _Nichrom _like _that, _if anyone—especially Goldva—saw him make me blush, we could get into huge trouble. I wasn't allowed to have romantic relationships, not that that wasn't fair. Besides, I didn't want one, anyways. Why the hell would I?

**"But I'm allergic to cats, you nitwit."**

He shrugged, then changed the subject. "Rutherford has a feeling that tonight's the night. I'm not sold on it, though."

**"What makes her think that?" **I asked, walking past Nichrom.

He turned and kept up with me. "She says she just knows, like she had a dream or something."

**"Well, I'm more inclined to believe her rather than you. Oh hey, did Chrom say he'd let you come?"**

Nichrom frowned. "No, since I'm not a full priest like he is. Ugh, it isn't fair. I mean, you and Rutherford both get to go and I'm older than you."

I actually laughed; since I couldn't speak on my own, the sound was breathy and awkward. I stopped quickly, since I was embarrassed by the sound, but Nichrom was used to it and didn't comment.

**"For one, I'm way older than you, and it's tradition for me to go. And Rutherford's…different from you."**

He huffed. "Still doesn't mean it's fair."

I rolled my eyes and didn't dignify him with a response. We walked together around the village, helping out those we passed with preparations. The shamans of the world might not be coming for months, but the Patch prided themselves on hosting such an important event in the world's history.

To be honest, the everyday life of the village had been boring me for a while. I couldn't wait until I went to Tokyo with the priests. I hadn't been born in Japan in several lifetimes, and I really wanted to see how much it had changed and how many shamans were going to gather. The Patch priests, plus me, would be scattered all around the area, and I was becoming impatient to have a higher level of freedom than the one I had here.

()()()()()

The day inevitably passed, and night fell. There was a certain excitement in the air, and everyone kept glancing up at the sky expectantly. I could sense it coming, too, so I hurried home and climbed up the side stairs onto our flat roof before lying down. Nix materialized and nestled on the ledge beside me, and together we stared up at the sky.

We waited for a while; I wasn't sure how long. But the sight of Rahu shooting across the sky, its huge, magnificent white tail streaming behind it…was definitely worth the five hundred-year wait.

I grinned. **"You ready, Nix?"**

** "I always am, Catori."**

My smile faltered for a moment, but I wasn't sure why.

()()()()()

We left at dawn.

"Remember, my priests," Goldva said to us as we stood literally out in the middle of the desert. "You are all to remain impartial and must judge participants fairly. Oracle Bells are to be handed out to all shamans who pass our test. Our job is sacred and more important than anything else, so take it seriously at all times and do your best. I will come to join you when the preliminaries are over. May the Great Spirits be with you all."

The ten priests and I bowed to Goldva, and without further ado, Chrom created an oversoul of a small plane, which we all quickly stocked with our supplies, much of which were the Oracle Bells. Speaking of which, we'd all already been assigned our own Oracle Bells, and I particularly liked my red one.

We wasted no time and were soon headed to Tokyo. When Chrom started to tire out, we all teased him a little before Kalim took over with his own oversoul. The process of switching was a bit jarring since Kalim had to make a slightly bigger plane, which meant that we all fell a couple of inches when Chrom deactivated his oversoul.

Rutherford feel asleep, so I spent most of the time looking out the window, even though I couldn't see the ground from so high up. I really liked to look at the tops of the clouds; I was able to fly up this far with Nix's oversoul, but I wasn't allowed to while we were back at the village.

Because, you know, I could hit a plane so far up here. Or run out of oxygen. Or be seen. Those sorts of shitty things.

"You excited?"

I turned to where Silva sat across from me. **"Yeah, actually. I live for the fights! You know that."**

He smiled a little, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. He nodded slightly, a signal we'd developed long ago, and I extended my senses to him a little more.

**"Kalim and I are the ones officially in charge of you," **he thought. **"I'll let you have some freedom, but don't make me regret it."**

** "Of course I won't."**

** "I won't let her," **Nix added from where he was perched on my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes at the bird. **"I'll be fine," **I insisted. **"I'm way older than you, Silva, remember? I know how to take care of myself."**

** "I know. But you can't blame me for worrying," **Silva replied. **"It's **_**you **_**we're talking about."**

After that, the ride didn't take that much longer. A few hours later, we found ourselves in a rather secluded part of Japan, many miles from Tokyo, but if a group of people had been seen flying into Tokyo "by no real means," our mission would have been jeopardized.

We had already changed out of our Patch robes into more everyday-wear; I wore a thigh-length, white summer dress with flowing sleeves that went to the elbow, and black tights. As usual, my hair was tied up in a simple knot with a gold ribbon, and two locks of hair framed my face.

Rutherford had managed to tame her massive amounts of hair into a braid, and wore a long-sleeved blue shirt and jeans. In fact, all of the priests had decided to wear jeans. Silva wore a leather jacket, too, and it actually had tacky-looking tassels on the arms. I kind of wanted to laugh at him.

Kalim came up to me. "Mind keeping a lookout?"

**"Aye-aye, Captain Kalim," **I replied, extending my senses to the surrounding area. I nodded to Kalim when I couldn't sense anything but local wildlife.

He led the way through the woods, using his Oracle Bell as a GPS. The rest of us trudged along behind, shouldering our backpacks. None of us spoke for hours, and by the time we finally emerged from the undergrowth, my arms were covered with scratches and all I wanted to do was find somewhere to sleep. But when we finally came out of the trees and onto a ridge overlooking part of the city, all of the hours of travelling were forgotten.

Tokyo was a lot…brighter and bigger than I remembered it being. Of course, I hadn't been in Japan for over a century, so it obviously looked different. I was suddenly very thankful that Goldva had made us all study modern Japanese so we could fit in better while we were here.

Kalim turned to all of us. "Okay, everyone, we—"

"Oi, oi," Radim said. "We already heard everything from Goldva about what we need to do. You don't have to tell us."

Chrom elbowed him. "Oh, let Kalim have his fun, Radim. And Great Spirits know _you'd _forget what to do.

We all laughed, and Kalim cleared his throat. "Everyone needs to spread out and set up camp somewhere decent—but cheap. We don't want to waste any money. Keep a lookout for shamans but try not to fight them in broad daylight. We don't need the police causing us trouble. Speaking of which, don't get arrested. We can't afford to bail you out."

There was some muttering, and someone said, "That means don't go drinking, Brom."

There was more laughter and Kalim said a few more things, mostly common sense (like messaging at least one other priest on a regular basis as a way to enforce the "buddy system") and all of the rules that had been jammed into our heads since we were in diapers. When he was finally finished, everyone sighed in relief and hurried to be on their separate ways before he had the chance to remember something else to say.

As he left, Chrom patted my head. "Stay outta trouble, Tor." He winked at me and added in a whisper, "Come find me and we'll have some fun around here."

I laughed and swatted his hand away. **"Okay, Chrom."**

When he was gone, I turned back to Kalim and Silva. **"Shall we?"**

The two nodded, and we set out.

()()()()()

It was morning by the time we found a rather dingy, cheap little motel, and we piled in, shut the blinds, and fell asleep…

…only to be awoken several hours later by the incredibly humid heat.

Well, _I _wasn't bothered that much by it. I didn't like the humidity, but so long as it was warm I was perfectly fine. But Kalim and Silva muttered and cursed and were basically wishing hell upon Japan by noontime.

If I wasn't so annoyed at being woken up, I would've laughed at them. Instead, I rolled over and ducked my head under the covers, trying to go back to sleep, but they were too loud for that to happen anytime soon.

"There's nothing but Japanese soap operas on right now," Silva muttered.

"Wait—what's that?"

"Just one of their animes," Silva said.

"But why is that suit of armor empty?!"

I finally emerged from my cocoon and looked to see that Kalim had taken the remote from a frustrated-looking Silva. But I noticed that on the screen, there indeed was a walking, talking, empty suit of armor in some anime, and it (or was it a she?) kept spouting out "nii-san!" or something.

**"Remind me why you guys aren't out looking for shamans," **I said tiredly, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"We start that tomorrow. Today's a recovery day," Silva said, and Kalim shushed him.

I rolled my eyes and wandered to the tiny bathroom to take a shower. When I was finished, I came back out to find Kalim still glued to the TV while Silva was eating out of a fast-food bag. He pointed to where another one sat on my bed, and I quickly ate the contents. Since there was nothing better to do, I watched the TV. Apparently the show was called "Fullmetal Alchemist," and I supposed that the armor kid was the title character, but I couldn't be sure. Whatever episode it was seemed to be filler and didn't really interest me.

**"Well," **I said, standing up once I was done eating. **"I might as well go out if you aren't."**

This managed to pull Kalim's attention away from the TV. "What? You're not going out alone."

**"I'm never alone," **I replied, and Nix appeared on my shoulder, looking a little miffed at being brought up like this. **"And I can take care of myself. I've been around the block a few times, if you hadn't noticed."**

Kalim didn't look convinced, but luckily Silva came to my rescue. "She'll be fine for one day, Kalim. Let her live a little."

After a long moment, he sighed. "Fine. But keep that out of sight," he said, pointing to my Oracle Bell. "Shamans aren't supposed to have that until we start handing them out tomorrow night. _And keep in touch._"

I grinned. **"Of course! I'll be back later," **I promised, hurrying out of the room, but not before pulling a black shoulder bag out of my backpack and sticking my Oracle Bell and wallet inside.

I nearly jumped for joy as soon as I got out of the motel. **"I'm free!"**

** "Don't get too carried away," **Nix warned. **"If you get in trouble, they probably won't let you out of their sight. Not to mention that **_**I **_**won't let you go anywhere, either."**

** "Oh, be quiet," **I said, but not meanly.

I look around for a moment at the rather boring surroundings before I decided to head toward the more urban sections of the area. I was amazed by the huge buildings and sounds, the people, the cars and shops and _everything. _I must have spent an hour just wandering and looking around. I'd been to cities before, but never in _this _lifetime.

Since I was so distracted, I didn't pay attention to where I was going, and I ended up bumping into someone.

I lost my balance and ended up falling flat on my butt. I grimaced in pain, then looked to see that the person I had run into, who seemed to be about my age, had fallen on his behind, too.

The first thing I noticed about him was his outfit: mustard-yellow jacket, black shorts, shiny brown shoes. Definitely expensive.

The second thing I noticed was his purple hair; it was spiked into a tongari, and it looked like he could potentially kill someone with it. However, his bangs looked normal and non-threatening.

To be honest, I was about to consider him attractive, but then he glared at me with the third thing I noticed: his golden eyes. And they were narrowed in a pretty pissy manner.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," he snapped, shooting to his feet and walking away.

I was stunned for a moment before I jumped to my feet, ready to pummel the bastard, but he was long gone. I let out a huff of frustration and took out my anger by kicking a small pebble, but I missed and fell onto my butt again.

**"Well, fuck." **

**"Language, Catori," **Nix scolded from where he nestled in the feather tied around my neck, almost as if he were oversouled. **"Did you notice the aura of that Chinese spirit with him?"**

Now that I thought about it… **"Oh, yeah. I suppose I'll get to see that bastard again…! Next time, I'll—"**

"Oi, you okay?"

Startled out of my mental rant, I looked up to see a boy standing in front of me. Like the last one, he was about my age, but his ebony eyes were kind and concerned. He had spiky blue hair held up with a headband and wore a blue ski jacket and shorts with basic sneakers, and carried an encased snowboard over his shoulder. His headband, jacket, and snowboard were decorated with Ainu markings.

In response, I scratched the back of my head sheepishly and tried to smile. He looked a little confused for a moment before he grinned and held out his hand. "Here, lemme help you."

I gratefully accepted the help, and he pulled me to my feet. He blushed slightly, and held my hand for a second or two longer than was necessary.

What a boy.

He pulled away quickly when he noticed what he was doing. To try to cover it up, he jerked his thumb at himself. "Name's Usui HoroHoro. Nice to meet ya."

HoroHoro waited for me to reply, but I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out how to answer him (I didn't want to just walk away and be as big a bitch as that other guy was). I didn't know if there was a Japanese word that at least sounded like "Catori," but then I realized that maybe giving out that name might not be the best idea.

But then, it hit me.

I started miming, putting my hands in front of me, palms facing me, and interlocked my thumbs and started flapping my fingers.

HoroHoro looked like he'd stumbled into a freak show, and I couldn't say that I blamed him. "…Tori?" he said after a moment, saying the Japanese word for "bird."

I nodded, relaxing in relief. He still looked confused as hell, so I pointed at my throat and opened and closed my mouth.

He blinked, then balked. "O-oh…you can't speak?"

I shook my head.

HoroHoro didn't say anything for a few moments. Then: "So…your name is…Tori?"

I nodded.

"Um…"

I smiled and decided to save him from his suffering. I bowed politely (they still did that in this country, right?), and made to leave.

"O-oi, wait!"

I stopped and turned back to HoroHoro, who suddenly looked embarrassed and sheepish. "Uh…see you around?"

I smiled and nodded, giving him a wave before I left.

()()()()()

**"Well, that guy brightened my day," **I said to Nix.

**"Mmm," **he muttered. **"I hate boys."**

I laughed, as much as I could without a voice. **"Ah, let him be. I'm not gonna let a guy do anything to me, and neither are you."**

** "Of course not. Anyway, have you messaged Kalim and Silva yet?"**

** "Oh, right." **I stopped walking and stood out of the street traffic, pulling out my Oracle Bell. I had a few messages from Silva, all of them rather recent, and I quickly responded to them, saying I was all right and that I had noticed a couple shamans already. In fact, if I expanded my senses a little, I could feel the auras of several shamans in the area.

After a while of standing there, watching the people go about their day, I headed out again. By this time, it was late afternoon, and I was starving. **"Think I should buy us all some dinner?"**

** "The motel has a kitchenette," **Nix reminded me. **"Go buy some things to cook. Great Spirits know what was in that bag you ate out of today."**

I smiled and took his advice, wandering around until I found a grocery store. **"I guess it's instant noodles for all of us, though," **I said, seeing the prices listed for some of the items on display. I ignored my growling stomach and grabbed a basket, going around the store and picking out whatever looked cheap but edible.

I was looking at instant miso soup when a couple of people entered the aisle; one was incredibly short, and the other had brown hair, wore orange headphones, and looked incredibly lazy. A samurai spirit floated behind them, not worried about being noticed.

There was one other person in the aisle already, and he seemed to recognize them. "Good afternoon, Oyamada-san, Asakura-san."

I dropped the can of miso.

"Ah?" It had rolled away from me, and headphones-boy picked it up and held it out to me. "Here you go," he said with a carefree smile.

For a moment, I thought of Asakura Yohken—their hair color was about the same and there were other definite physical similarities—and then I thought that this kid had to be Hao, reincarnated back into his own family, smiling like an idiot because he could.

But whoever this kid was, his eyes weren't the same as Hao's.

I accepted the can and nodded my thanks. He just grinned and chuckled.

"So, Yoh-kun," his short friend said as they continued on, "Anna-san said she wanted…"

I watched them for a moment, then decided that I wouldn't say anything about this "Asakura Yoh" until I could find Hao and figure out what was going on.


	3. Two: Chrom

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King, I only own my own OCs and this fic._

* * *

Two: Chrom

**"Oi, we got food!" **I said, barely managing to open the door since I was carrying a bunch of grocery bags.

Silva was immediately there, helping with the door and grabbing some bags. I thanked him, and together the two of us put the bags on the center table and began to unload them. Kalim didn't help; he was still glued to the TV.

"Anything interesting happen while you were out?" Silva asked.

**"I saw a Chinese shaman and an Ainu shaman, and some others. But mostly I was looking at everything in the city."**

"You stayed out for a while," Silva noted, nodding toward the window, which showed how dark it was outside. It was already nearly nine o'clock.

I busied myself with making some instant miso. **"Well, uh, I got a little lost on the way back."**

** "More like you got a lot lost," **Nix corrected.

I glared at him, but Nix did nothing and Silva just laughed at us. "Well, I'm glad you had fun. Tomorrow we start _really _looking for those shamans, so after we eat, we should all get some rest. You too, Kalim."

"But Madoka hasn't become a magical girl yet!"

Silva tossed a packet of instant noodles at Kalim with a little more force than was necessary. "Shut up and eat, idiot."

"Don't talk to me like that," the older man snapped, but nevertheless, he got up to prepare his food.

()()()()()

Chrom pointed into the crowd. "Tonight, I'm gonna challenge _that _little punk."

I peered into the throng of people and saw who he was singling out: Mr. Short-Shorts. Or Mr. Sharkhead. Tongari-chan? …I hadn't come up with a good nickname yet. **"Yesterday I was walking around and literally ran into him. Bastard was pretty rude."**

Maybe "bastard" was a good title for him, actually.

"All the more reason to knock some sense into him," said Chrom. "Unless you want to do the honors?"

I laughed a little. **"You know I'm not allowed to hurt any contestants unless I have good reason. But boy, would I love to."**

"He isn't a contestant yet," Chrom pointed out. "Do it—I wanna see it."

I shrugged, barely holding back a chuckle. **"Eh, I'll let him be. I'll admit though that the kid seems to have the potential to grow really powerful, but we'll see. He's far from the strongest I've ever met, though. Speaking of which…has anyone seen Hao yet?"**

He shook his head. "Not from what I've heard. We don't even know if he's around this time."

**"I'm sure he is." **I stood from where we sat on a bench. **"I'm gonna go take another look around. Guess I'll see you later, Chrom."**

"Bye, Cat," he called, and I shot him a glare. He laughed.

I left him and began to walk through the city, expanding my senses to try to find any huge amounts of furyoku. Perhaps Hao was staying well out of the way of the priests, but maybe I would be able to find him and figure out the mystery of this Asakura Yoh guy.

**"This is a stupid idea, you know," **Nix said, appearing beside me in his spirit ball form for a moment.

**"Well…yeah, you're right," **I admitted. **"But I'm really…I don't know. I want to know what's going on. And you're not going to stop me."**

** "…At the first sign of trouble I'm getting you the hell out of there."**

** "No duh. And I'll even let you."**

()()()()()

It took me a few hours, but I was able to distinguish a large (and recognizable) aura and follow it to the edge of the city, into a rather run-down area. If there was anyone around, the aura drowned out his or her presence. The usual background noises of the city were dulled out here, and I had to wonder if there were even any homeless people around. It was eerie here, even downright creepy.

**"We should get out of here," **Nix whispered, and I nodded and turned around, only to come face-to-face with Yoh.

He smiled. "Is that you, Catori-chan?"

I faltered. **"…Hao?"**

He chuckled. "Good to see you again, too. I see we're about the same age again, what a nice coincidence. I have to say that you're cuter than the last time I saw you."

I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. Hao looked exactly like Yoh—same height, same build—but he was a little taller than Yoh, his hair was far longer, and his eyes weren't so lazy-looking. He wore star earrings, a poncho, baggy pants, and weirdly-shaped red shoes.

He grinned. "Like what you see?"

I couldn't help but make a disgusted face. I crossed my arms. **"Hell no."**

His eyes widened in surprise. "Oi, aren't you different, Catori-chan! You're all snappy now; I like it. What changed, though? Emotions aren't your thing."

**"And why the hell would I tell you anything?"**

"Ah, give me more credit, Catori-chan. Your mind might be too guarded for me to read, but I know you didn't go looking for me for nothing. How about this: you answer my question, then I'll answer yours. Deal?"

Nix appeared on my shoulder, muttering his discontent.

Hao brightened. "Long time no see! Nix-san, if I remember right. Hey, Spirit of Fire, come say hi."

I hadn't seen Spirit of Fire for five hundred years, but it looked the same as always—huge, red, and imposing. Its form was smaller than usual, but it still stood several feet above us.

Hao noticed Nix shift. "Oh, don't be nervous. I'm not going to do anything to Catori-chan. What would that get me?" He turned back to me. "Now, what do you say?"

I thought it over. **"Just one. And if I don't want to answer, I'm walking away."**

Hao chuckled. "Fair enough. Hmm… How do you have emotions now when the last time I saw you, you could hardly care enough to even eat?"

**"I don't know."**

Hao raised an eyebrow.

**"I really don't know, Hao."**

He raised his hands. "All right, all right, calm down. I believe you. Your turn."

I was silent for a moment. **"Who is Asakura Yoh?"**

"Oh, so you've met my otouto?" Hao seemed delighted. "He's my twin—other half, really. No one's told him about me, though, so don't spoil it—I want to surprise him."

**"Little **_**brother**_**?"**

"Yup. But I'm afraid I can't answer any more questions unless you do. We can do another exchange, if you want."

**"Actually, I'd rather just get going."**

"Really? But I'm enjoying your company." Nevertheless, Hao shifted, and Spirit of Fire disappeared from sight. "I won't keep you, though. But feel free to come visit me whenever you'd like. It has been a long time, after all."

I narrowed my eyes and walked past him without a word. He turned after me. "Aw, no need to be so cold!"

**"Bye, Hao," **I said, not very nicely. He chuckled.

()()()()()

At least I knew that Hao couldn't be lying about Yoh being his twin; the two were practically identical, save for a few differences. I didn't know how I could prove that Yoh didn't know about Hao, though, unless I asked him outright or watched him or…something. But if Yoh didn't really know about Hao…

**"I see you're not being impartial."**

** "You **_**just **_**noticed, Nix?" **I replied sarcastically. I paused. **"Hao lied to our entire village for years so that he could kill everyone who wasn't a shaman. What do you expect me to think?"**

** "I'd think that you'd remain loyal to your duty and debt, not wonder about this Yoh somehow defeating Hao like Yohken did."**

** "…There's nothing wrong with hoping."**

** "You don't want to just hope. You want to help."**

I stopped walking, and a couple people muttered as they passed around me. **"…What, are you going to stop me?"**

** "I can try, but in the end, your decisions are yours. Except for **_**that **_**one. No matter what you do, you'll always have to answer to your debt. You don't need me to tell you that."**

I paused. **"I just don't want Hao to win. I don't want to be the one to help him…." **

I thought of Tai and clenched my fist.

**"That boy is long dead, Ca—"**

** "You think I don't know that?! You think I don't feel guilty about that?!" **I started walking again, but hurriedly, as if I could walk away from Nix, but that was impossible and would always be impossible. **"I don't want people like him to be killed." **

I sighed. **"…Just…just let me see what this Yoh guy is like."**

It was a white lie, and Nix knew it. **"Okay."**

()()()()()

It was a busy night for the priests. Rutherford messaged me saying that she'd already handed out at least three Oracle Bells by midnight, and I congratulated her. Nobody else messaged me; there were all too busy.

I oversouled Nix into wings and flew up onto a low building (but not before making sure that there was no one around), and I settled myself against the ledge and watched my Oracle Bell. Pretty soon, a rather regular stream of names started to pour in, all of them belonging to new participants. Just some were: Chocolove McDonnell; Saigan Sati; Anatel Pokki; Pino Graham; Usui HoroHoro (**"Oh look, **_**that **_**guy," **Nix said blandly); Asakura Yoh; Tao Ren; and Asakura Hao.

**"So many people this year," **I mused. **"Must be because travel's so easy nowadays."**

** "There'll be even more people entered in tomorrow," **Nix said. **"This Fight should be a pretty long one."**

I silently agreed and continued to watch the names pour in. I kept looking back up the list at Yoh's and Hao's names, though.

What kind of relationship did they have? Or, what _would _they have? I wished that I knew, but not even the Great Spirits could foresee the future. And anyone who said he could was full of crap.

If Yoh killed Hao, I would be happy. One death was better than billions, surely.

I was starting to get a little tired when a message popped up from Kalim, with a GPS location attached. The message read:

_Chrom. Get your mask._

()()()()()

The GPS location had led me to a dirty alley; judging by all the blood, the killing had taken place here. All of the officials had gathered, and to respect the death, they'd all put on ceremonial masks to hide their faces. I had, too, and I was glad that it hid my tears.

I had just spoken to Chrom that morning. I had joked with him, laughed with him, glared at him for calling me "Cat." I'd known him since I was born here. He'd loved to sing and dance and laugh. And here he was, on the first night of admittance.

Dead.

Silva, the only one not wearing a mask, held Chrom's body in his arms. He looked up as I approached. "Catori! Can't you revive him?"

I knelt down and touched Chrom's cold skin. His soul was long gone. I shook my head.

_Let his soul rest in peace, Great Spirits, but…why…_

Sudden rage filled me. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right that Chrom had died here, in this filthy alley, just when the Shaman Fight had begun. Chrom had always been so full of life, and to see him unmoving and cold was _wrong. _

I struggled to subdue those emotions. Right now was definitely not the time and place for an outburst. Chrom's passing deserved to be honored, not tarnished by "unfairness."

Silva, however, didn't understand that he should be keeping his mouth shut. "Who killed Chrom?!"

"Silence, Silva!" Magna snapped from behind his mask. "You call yourself an officiant?"

Silva grimaced, and though I wasn't impressed with him right now either, I couldn't blame him for being upset.

Radim had brought along one of his gadgets and stood it on its three short legs, pointing it toward a dark wall. "We'll take a look through the Oracle Projector."

I stood up straight and watched as the machine flickered to life and shot light onto the wall. It took a moment for the still frame to focus.

I stiffened.

_"Tonight, I'm gonna challenge _that _little punk."_

It was that golden-eyed kid, the one with the spike in his hair.

The bastard.

"He is the one who killed Chrom," said Kalim. He checked his Oracle Bell. "His name is Tao Ren. He had one of the highest furyoku values of those who passed the test tonight."

"He _passed_?" Silva said, outraged.

**"Of course he did, Silva," **I said tersely, barely holding back my rage at the whole situation. It sounded like I was mad at Silva, but I was far more angry at Tao Ren. **"He didn't break any rules."**

If I would just listen to myself, I would see that blaming Tao Ren did nothing to help. Absolutely nothing.

But I just couldn't _not _blame him….

"Catori speaks the truth," Magna agreed. "It is the Great Spirits' will to pass him—dissent is forbidden, Silva. This is a legitimate outcome. Even with Catori's aid, the Shaman King needs enormous furyoku power to be one with the Great Spirits. This boy may come to possess more furyoku than we do. He could have much potential. We conduct the tests by actual combat to gauge the candidates' furyoku. A death among us foreshadows the coming of a king, and should be celebrated."

_Celebrated_.

I was about to protest, but Nix shushed me, and I realized that I had almost made a huge, stupid mistake. If I disagreed with Patch tradition that was basically as old as I was, they would deem me insane. There was no reason for me to disagree, other than my own emotions.

Magna and the other priests turned away from Silva, and I reluctantly followed their example. "This should not be so hard to accept for a true officiant," Magna said. "If you allow your emotions to rule you, Silva, you cannot be an impartial officiant."

()()()()

I pulled off my mask and rubbed at my wet eyes. The other priests continued on to get back to their duties, but Rutherford stopped beside me.

"You okay?" she asked, taking off her own mask. She'd been crying, too.

I coughed a little. **"I was so excited about coming here that I had almost forgotten how many people can die during this."**

She smiled sadly. "I was thinking like that, too."

**"…Just this morning, I was with Chrom, and he pointed Tao Ren out and said he was going to challenge him." **I looked up at the sky; it was impossible to see the stars with all the light pollution of the city. **"…It almost feels like the Great Spirits were trying to warn me, but of course even they can't see the future."**

Rutherford ran a hand through her hair. "I haven't spoken to him since we got here. I feel bad about it." She paused. "How many people close to you have died?"

I thought for a moment. As guilty as I felt about Tai's death, I had never been _anything _for him. And my father in this life…I had never met him, so I couldn't have ever been close to him.

**"So far, just Chrom."**

Rutherford frowned. "You've never been close to anyone?"

**"…I was different back then," **I said carefully. In the past five hundred years, stories of my lack of emotion had faded, overshadowed by the tales of my invaluable aid to the Shaman King.

Rutherford was silent for a moment. She looked down at her mask and fiddled it around in her hands before looking back up at me. "You know, Goldva's probably going to send Nichrom here in Chrom's place."

I thought of Nichrom's annoying, witty personality and the way he always complained about being the younger brother, cheated from becoming a full priest (of course, he wasn't always being serious). But I knew that he had never wanted to become a full priest like this.

I sighed. **"I don't know how he's going to react to this."**

"I have a feeling he won't be impartial to Tao Ren," Rutherford admitted.

**"…To tell you the truth, I don't feel all that impartial, either," **I said, trusting that Rutherford would tell no one about our conversation. **"But how I feel doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for any of us."**

The girl looked down for a second. "I know we've been taught that all our lives, but it's a little sad to think that our opinions don't matter. Especially now."

**"Tell me about it."**

()()()()()

If I had been there when Chrom was killed, part of me thought that I would've tried to kill Tao Ren with my bare hands, if that had been what it would've taken.

When I was alone again, I took out my Oracle Bell and looked at the bastard's name. His data revealed that he was from China, and that he had been born on January 1, 1986; he was younger than my body was. I didn't really pay attention to his furyoku number, though. I wasn't one for numbers, and I felt that shamans should focus more on how they used furyoku rather than just comparing values.

After all, Chrom's value had been rather high.

For a long time, I just stared at the boy's name. I was angry at the fact that I was so caught up on this kid's name, his data. The only other things I knew about him were that he was rude and a murderer. In the course of one night, this stranger had gotten me to completely forget about Hao and Yoh and had gotten me to focus only on him.

I tapped a few buttons on my Oracle Bell, and a map screen came up. A blinking red dot on the map emanated from the area where Tao Ren's Oracle Bell was.

**"And what are you planning to do?" **Nix asked, appearing on my shoulder.

I closed my eyes and thought of Chrom, wondered what he would be thinking right now. **"…I want to know that Chrom's death wasn't for nothing."**

** "So what? You want **_**that **_**boy to defeat Hao now, and not his twin?"**

** "…That would be stupid." **I sighed. **"Too many people die for nothing. I mean…if Chrom had died because this Tao Ren is meant to become Shaman King, then I'd be…contented, I guess. But I want to know **_**why **_**Tao Ren killed him."**

** "You can't just walk up to him and ask, Catori. And you know as well as I do that there was no real reason for what happened."**

I X-ed out of the GPS and stuffed my Oracle Bell back into my bag. **"Guess I'm too old to pretend, huh?" **I asked harshly.

()()()()()

After three days, nearly all shamans had been tested for qualification, and after a week, the preliminary matches began. I watched them regularly, making mental notes about which shamans seemed promising. For instance, a man named Faust VIII, who had a relatively low furyoku value, was able to use his oversoul effectively and efficiently to win his first math. And Lyserg Diethel looked like he'd spent his whole life learning to control his oversoul.

During that time, Nichrom arrived. I saw him once, at a match, but he left as soon as it was over and I didn't follow after him. I wouldn't have known what to say.

On the first really sunny day after Chrom's death, I wandered through the streets, looking for someplace decent to eat. I noticed my Oracle Bell beeping from inside my bag, so I took it out and checked my messages.

Big mistake.

"Oi—Tori!"

I froze as—HoroHoro, right?—came up to me. The Ainu grinned when he stopped in front of me, but when he noticed my Oracle Bell, he frowned in confusion. "Are you in the Shaman Fight, too?"

I panicked and nodded.

I like to think this was the beginning of my complete and utter idiocy as a person.

* * *

_a/n: Ah, I almost thought that I wasn't going to make the biweekly deadline for this XD;; But I managed it! Yay! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. In "Muffled," you didn't see Tori act so much like a Patch this early on, so I thought this was a nice change. And Hao's already been introduced, two chapters in~ Heh. I love the relationship he and Tori share; they're both "above death" in a way, and though she can't stand him, he always acts so..."Hao" around her, for lack of a better term. XD_

_Anyway, thank you all for the reviews and the follows/favorites so far! They really make my day. Please don't hesitate to leave a review on your way out, they're very, very appreciated~ I'll try to be back in another two weeks for the next update._


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